<p>Like how popular and respectable is it? Comparable to Harvard's reputation? Or is it like Emory?</p>
<p>well US News rated it 10th in the Nation and 14th in the World</p>
<p>Alright, the thing is, my mom wants me to go to UCLA…but I’m aruging I’ll get a better experience at Duke.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how to convince her…I’m into engineering, and I’m looking keenly at BioMedEngineerng…maybe comsci?</p>
<p>She thinks UCLA is in equal footing with Duke and that Duke isn’t as prestigious as Ivy LEagues, which she wouldn’t mind paying the 37 K for.</p>
<p>Are you instate for UCLA? That could be a pretty good deal.</p>
<p>^I am in state, but I mean come on…nearly someone in every Californian high school gets into UCLA.</p>
<p>How many people get into Duke? I thought Duke is like a once in a lifetime opportunity…</p>
<p>i heard duke sucks in engineering. like 30 in the nation</p>
<p>Not in Biomedical Engineering it doesn’t. Don’t know about the rest.</p>
<p>Depends on what scale you’re talking about. Within the US, recognition is pretty much the same as the US News ranks. Outside of the US, though, Duke isn’t very well-known. Duke only got “really good” in the past few decades. In business (say, if you polled students at LSE or London Business School), its int’l recognition is very good, but other than that, I’d say it’s about the same as UCLA’s (except for in Asia, where UCLA is probably more well-known). Still, though, if you poll “average populations” in even just the developed nations of the world, most will never have heard of any US schools except for HYPMS.</p>
<p>If you’re planning on staying in the US, Duke is well-known enough to satisfy all intended purposes of reputation/prestige.</p>
<p>
I’m from NC. Most schools here (at least in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill)) send at least one student to Duke each year. 1) It’s (officially/intentionally) slightly easier for NC applicants to get it. 2) Almost all NC high schoolers apply to Duke if they’re looking at that level.</p>
<p>College Rankings are wack. I remember one year USNWR ranked Duke #3 with Yale. </p>
<p>And a lot of people know Duke because of NCAA basketball.</p>
<p>Duke’s BME is currently number 2 in the country.</p>
<p>Overall, Duke has more recognition as an academic institution than UCLA. For the purposes of alumni connections down the road, Duke will help more than UCLA.</p>
<p>However, if you are near the top of the class at either school, it really doesn’t matter. Yet if you were in, say, the 60-70% at both schools, Duke’s 70% would do better overall job wise than UCLA’s 70%.</p>
<p>I would choose Duke. Yea I’m biased, but its a better school and doesn’t have all the problems the UC’s are having. Plus its comparable to an Ivy League institution, something UCLA isn’t.</p>
<p>OP, I understand your concern completely. As a CA native (and Asian, at that) the only schools my family and community knew of were really Stanfrd, Cal, and UCLA. It was a PAIN getting my parents to understand why I wanted to go to Duke or Columbia over those Californian schools. This is largely becuase (okay I’m going to stereotype) Asian parents only know of good engineering GRADUATE schools. Hence, Cal’s prestige.</p>
<p>Tell your parents to go visit with you. Once my dad saw Duke and Columbia, he immediately understood what I’ve been telling him. Once he got to the campuses, he realized that Duke is as good (if not better than) some Ivies and that Columbia was a good school as well. Trust me, the UC system is bleeding right now and from personal experience, domestic prestige and connections at Duke >>> UCLA.</p>
<p>“I am in state, but I mean come on…nearly someone in every Californian high school gets into UCLA.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure what has to do with anything. Is that worth $100,000?</p>
<p>" I thought Duke is like a once in a lifetime opportunity… "</p>
<p>I sure hope it’s worth it. For us, the value was in the “diversity”. If my D had gotten into both, and REALLY wanted to prove Duke was worth m extra $100,000, it could have been one tough situation. Could depend on the major.</p>
<p>^Well, if he goes to a good high school, tHen no, he is not kidding. My high school sends AT LEAST 80 kids to UCLA a year.</p>
<p>^eatsalot, I love you.</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess I’ll take my parents to visit. All the think is that Stanford, MIT, Caltech, and Berkeley and UCLA are the BEST IN AMERICA.</p>
<p>They fail to understand the Ivy Leagues and Duke and Vandy, etc.</p>
<p>Do you know by any chance as to how to reduce the tuition for Duke? I’m not really sure what to do.</p>
<p>a Duke experience is going to be much much easier to handle administratively. Registering for classes, getting advice, and interacting with the administration will be very difficult at UCLA given their budget woes, and there is a distinct possibility that you may be unable to graduate in 4 years by no fault of your own. Moreover, if you’re struggling at UCLA as opposed to Duke, you will have a much harder time finding help at UCLA. It’s huge, it’s cash-strapped, and you are certainly not the only one with issues.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I guess I’ll take my parents to visit.”</p>
<p>A visit sure is convincing, IF the money is there . Can’t see how to reduce tuition; just keeps going up, but I’ve heard work isn’t too hard to find… not that my D has found any…</p>
<p>It’s highly irresponsible to tell a prospective student to go ~$150K in deficit especially since his interests lie in engineering where UCLA is stronger than Duke. There is no post-grad opportunity at Duke that he cannot get at UCLA. </p>
<p>To the OP: save your money for grad school. If you want to work instead, your starting salary will be the same coming out of UCLA or Duke. We’re not talking about MIT, Caltech or Stanford here. Did you also apply to Berkeley?</p>